Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is greeted by Microsoft employees after an October 13, 2011, speech at Microsoft -- his one public appearance so far in the 2008 and 2012 presidential cycles.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is greeted by Microsoft employees after an October 13, 2011, speech at Microsoft -- his one public appearance so far in the 2008 and 2012 presidential cycles.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO

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Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks during a rally in Tacoma on Feb. 13, in which he faced protesters and a woman that dumped glitter on the candidate.

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum speaks during a rally in Tacoma on Feb. 13, in which he faced protesters and a woman that dumped glitter on the candidate.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO

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Presidential candidates face protesters when they come to Washington. A police officer uses taser to shock a protester after the protester briefly scuffled with officers during a rally for Rick Santorum in Tacoma on February 13.

Presidential candidates face protesters when they come to Washington. A police officer uses taser to shock a protester after the protester briefly scuffled with officers during a rally for Rick Santorum in

Newt Gingrich shakes hands during a Federal Way appearance on February 14. Gingrich was often here in the 1990's, as Speaker of the House, but this was his first foray of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Newt Gingrich shakes hands during a Federal Way appearance on February 14. Gingrich was often here in the 1990's, as Speaker of the House, but this was his first foray of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Photo: JOSHUA TRUJILLO

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Newt Gingrich in Federal Way. Republican presidential candidates are vying for support in precinct caucuses Saturday. On that night, actress Lindsay Lohan may play Callista Gingrich (r) in a skit on Saturday Night Live.

The next act in Republicans' nasty, polarizing, drawn-out presidential drama comes Saturday with precinct caucuses that will begin to select Washington's delegation to the GOP National Convention.

Mitt Romney's campaign comes to the state fresh off of wins Tuesday in Michigan and Arizona.

But if he thinks he can jog a victory lap, and put in a leisurely appearance here late in the week, he should think again. Washington's contrarian history likely will deliver a message: It's far from over. The Evergreen State has lots of trees, but Romney won't find them the "right height."

The Republican right, which still distrusts Romney, is positioned to show its strength during two hours on Saturday morning. Centrist, collegial Republicans do win state offices here. Very conservative Republicans have dominated the caucuses since Barry Goldwater's win in 1964.

The party has moved steadily to the right. Gov. Dan Evans, backing President Gerald Ford , couldn't win a national delegate slot on his state's Reagan-dominated 1976 convention slate. (Evans has endorsed Romney this year.) George H.W. Bush won 16 states on SuperTuesday in 1988. The Rev. Pat Robertson carried Washington.

George W. Bush won an important victory over John McCain in 2000, although such moderate luminaries as Evans, Ralph Munro and Edith Derby Roosevelt Williams -- Theodore Roosevelt's granddaughter -- were the public face of the McCain campaign. Bill Bradley made a forlorn last stand against Al Gore on the Democratic side.

Party activists demanded -- and got -- their caucuses back. The caucuses magnify influence of the left wing of the Democratic Party and the right wing of the Republican Party. Candidates marginal elsewhere can focus on a small number of caucus-goers and maximize strength at the far ends of the spectrum.

Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul of Texas drew big crowds in Vancouver and Sea-Tac two weeks ago, replete with chants of "End the Fed" (the Federal Reserve) and "Bring them Home" (troops in Afghanistan). The Paul campaign has been organizing for months, and churning out lists of gun activists, right-to-lifers and high tech folk who endorse his left-to-far right agenda.

Joel Connelly has been a staff columnist for more than 30 years. He comments regularly on politics and public policy.

In 2004, Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio captured Democratic delegates with a bring-the-troops home platform. Vegan Kucinich served up red meat to faithful on the left. (Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich have teamed up on legislation to legalize marijuana, a popular cause at this corner of the "Left Coast.")

Mitt Romney owns the Republican establishment, what there is of it in a state carried by Democrats in six consecutive presidential elections and seven straight elections for Governor.

U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, Dave Reichert and Jaime Herrera Beutler have endorsed Romney. So have Republican leaders in the Legislature, and Secretary of State Sam Reed. Attorney General Rob McKenna -- the Republicans' candidate for governor -- has offered tortured explanations of why he is staying neutral.

Still, looking over the lists of prominent Romney endorsers, you don't need many fingers to count those likely to be hunched over at phone banks.

Rick Santorum blew through two weeks ago, on the day Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law same-sex marriage. He was heckled by Occupy Tacoma demonstrators and glitter bombed after a rally -- all of which served to light a fire with supporters of the culture warrior.

Newt Gingrich? He was omnipresent here in days after the 1994 "Republican Revolution" in which the GOP took control of Congress. He raised money for six new House members, and ventured around the state from Bellingham to the remote hamlet of Stehekin at the head of Lake Chelan.

He hasn't been around much in recent years, save for a visit last week.

Romney has usually been behind closed doors, raising money in both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns: He has a posh fundraiser scheduled later this week at the Bellevue Club.

He has rarely come out into the open, in this cycle only for a get-tough-on-China trade speech at Microsoft last September. A public event is hinted at for Friday morning.

Demonstrators may well test the candidate's lungs and his campaign's skill at venue selection and crowd packing. (The Romney campaign is getting over last week's Detroit Economic Club speech, with a crowd of 1,200 in a 65,000-seat stadium. ) After all, left-wing protesters have shown up to decry Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as sellouts.

And it was James Farley, Franklin D. Roosevelt's chief strategist, who once spoke of America consisting of "47 states and the soviet of Washington."

Hold onto your seatbelts: 2012 is proving to be a bumpy ride.

Columnist Joel Connelly has written about politics for the P-I since 1973.